Course (navigation)

A course, in navigation, is the direction of travel.

The term, even in navigation, can be ambiguous because there are several types of course:

course is the general term describing the bearing to be followed to move from the starting point to a particular target
heading is the direction the vessel or vehicle is pointing toward - it may be necessary to point away from the intended course to counteract the effects of a cross wind or tidal current or some other force
track is the actual direction of travel irrespective of the heading

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